loss confidence after a fall

[ingebing]

Hi - looking for advice/encouragement!
I have always lacked in confidence when riding -possibly the fear of what might happen and loss of being in control. Unfortunately my fears were realised when I gave my horse the wrong message when trotting. He went into canter,I pulled sharply on the reins lost my balance lent forward and promptly fell off. i did get back on and with my brilliant instructor trotted again.
Unfortunately I fractured my thumb in the process of falling off (I thought it hurt!!) and am now in plaster and unable to ride.
In a strange way i was glad i fell of as it was one of my fears but now I am in a quandary.
My horse is great but young - I am wondering whether he deserves a better more confident rider than myself.
I am so determined to ride but nerves get the better of me at times which is frustrating - I have started horse ownership later in life so didn't do all the pony club etc
I know the more i ride the better and more confident i will be
Sorry for the long thread

[curlytobiano]

Sorry about your thumb Ingebing. Obviously you won't be able to ride until that has healed, but why not maybe see if you can do some stuff like core strength exercises in the time when you can't ride, this will be a good way to help yourself stay on if something unexpected happens in future.

I don't think having a young horse is necessarily a problem, if the horse is sensible. There are plenty of difficult older horses, so changing horse may not help. I'd suggest you try to get someone experienced to ride your horse (your instructor?) whilst you are off, as coming back to one who has had 6 weeks off may be particularly difficult. Also, if your thumb permits, do some ground work with your horse to build up your relationship on the ground which will improve your confidence.

Good luck - I'm sure you will get your confidence back as your thumb heals. xx

[rifruffian]

Here's one idea; set yourself the aim not to fall off. The previous fall was transitioning from trot to canter. Eliminate those circumstances; do not trot or canter. In the medium term confine your riding to walk; for at least the next one hundred hours riding time, walk only. Lots of liesurely hacking. Devise for yourself some simple ideas to test how you control the various body parts of the horse. Just one small idea at a time, simple stuff. When it doesn't work think of something different to try. Help from an instructor could be useful but don't be afraid of your own ideas. All at walk. After one hundred plus hours of riding time at walk there is a good chance confidence will restore and you can think of the other paces.

[laurac]

Hope youre better soon x
When you can ride again take it real slow and gentle, do things you are comfortable doing, such as walking out in company, the more you succeed with your horse the more confident you will become, set yourself up for success you will get there

[fth]

some great advice here - lots of good people in this section who have been throuhg this themselvesw

also have a look at the confidence blog here - lots of articles on confidence and so on!

effectivehorsemanship.wordpresscom

Cathy

[rosemaryhannah]

The real trick is to develop a secure independent seat. How long have you been riding? Have you done work at sitting trot as well as rising trot? Basically you only came off because you tipped forward, so you need to sort out your riding so that you don't tip forward. You are right - you need to build up hours riding and that, in itself, will help your security improve.

Can you get lessons on another, older, horse, to help your riding improve so that you have more experience as a base to help your own horse?